Two conservation workshops for pottery and mosaic took place at Stobi during June. Both projects are the result of the collaboration with the Balkan Heritage Foundation from Stara Zagora. The international participants from different countries were offered a basic training for conservation and documentation. 19 Roman vessels and parts of the mosaic from the Old Episcopal Basilica were conserved during the 15 days of the workshops. Four projects for the conservation of metal objects, glass, pottery and stone objects were realized simultaneously with the other aforementioned projects. They were financed through the Annual Program for 2013 of the Macedonian Ministry of Culture. The activities resulted in conservation and preservation of 42 metal artifacts including the iron lamellar armour comprised of 322 plates and fragments (discovered in 2009, in a second half of the 6th century context of the House with a Triclinium), 41 piece of architectural decoration, among which the biggest attention is attracted by the marble reliefs of two griffins (found in the “Casino” in 2005), 22 glass vessels from the 1992 and 1995 salvage campaign at the Western Necropolis and 84 ceramic vessels mostly found in 2011 in the pottery kiln from the 1st century AD below the mosaic in the House of Peristeria. The first stage of the project for the conservation and restoration of the mosaic from the Old Episcopal Basilica was realized during June, July and August. The mosaic was removed from the original position in 1991 and the old bedding was cleaned in 1992. In 2013, the conservators applied new lime mortar bedding to 72 pieces and affixed them on aluminum honey comb panels. The project was self-financed by NI Stobi. The initial phase of the project for Conservation, restoration and reconstruction of the eastern half of the ima cavea of the theatre began in October and lasted until the first days of December. The ruined parts of the radial walls, the second circular wall, as well as the vaults below the mortar bedding for the seats were conserved and reconstructed. The project was financed through the Ministry of Culture Annual Program.

The final phase of the conservation and restoration of the mosaic from the nave of the Old Episcopal Basilica, which was removed from its original position in 1991, was conducted between 18.05.2014 and 07.11.2014. During 2013, the old mortar of the mosaic sections was replaced and the pieces were applied on aerolam panels. Until the beginning of the season in 2014, the sections were adequately stored in the facilities of NI Stobi which prevented additional damage of the mosaic. The goal of the work in 2014 was to relay the mosaic sections in their original position in the Old Episcopal Basilica. The mosaic sections (70 in total) were the subject of final work before being transported to the basilica. The activities included removal of the obsolete aerolam and mortar edges which were purposely left during the process of mortar replacement, because it was necessary to wait longer until the lime mortar becomes solid. After the removal, the new edges were consolidated with a solution of ACRIL 33 and water in order to increase their durability for the transport and the relaying on the support platform. Before transportation, all of the sections were preliminary arranged in the working space and then prepared for transport to the Basilica. The relaying of the mosaic was done on a steel platform as a support for the mosaic. The platform is an alternative to refilling the excavated area with new soil and setting concrete bedding. The steel platform was built during September by the construction of 11 concrete piers and attachment of series steel beams. The north part of the first phase apse of the Old Episcopal Basilica was also used as carrier for the part of the mosaic that covers it. After the construction of the steel support, all of the mosaic sections were moved down to the basilica by a specially-deployed platform in the form of a manual elevator. The process of moving the sections and their relaying was done in two days, and it was followed by photo documentation of the mosaic. The final conservation work included covering of the joints between the sections and their retouch in order to restore the authenticity of the mosaic. The gaps where there is no preserved mosaic, as well as the area in the apse of the basilica with preserved negatives in the mortar of an opus sectile mosaic, were covered by non-corroding metal sheet, attached to the supporting platform. The gaps with the sheet were filled by crushed stone with similar colours as the mosaic. This was the last activity in 2014 marking the completion of the conservation, restoration and presentation of the mosaic from the nave of the Epsicopal Basilica.

The second season from the Project for Conservation, Restoration and Reconstruction of the Eastern Half of the Auditorium of the Roman Theatre took place during September, October and November. The work continued with conservation and reconstruction of the remaining vaults of ima cavea (lower segment of the auditorium) which have not been conserved in 2013. The vaults between the radial walls were built from stones and lime mortar and they rested on mounds of soil brought to the theatre from a different location. The reconstruction of the vaults was done with the usage of authentic material such is the local sandstone discovered during the excavations, and the application of new, lime based mortar. At the beginning of the work, the damaged and crumbling masonry was removed from the beddings for the seats, the vaults under the beddings, the radial walls, some segments of the second circular wall and the stairway in the western lateral room of the central radial corridor. The damaged areas were particularly visible at the vaults between radial walls 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26. After the cleaning, the deteriorated parts were consolidated by changing the crumbled stones and mortar, and the missing parts were restored. After the vaults were consolidated, the next step in the conservation process was the reconstruction of the beddings for the marble seats. The work included two stages. During the first stage only the facings of the beddings were reconstructed in order to have the outline of every single row. The second stage meant restoration of the slopes between the facings. The reconstruction of the beddings was based on the original preserved parts and it was done with amorphous sandstone, white marble flints and lime based mortar. Twelve rows out of the original eighteen were reconstructed this season. The highest six rows rested on top of the vault above the central circular corridor. Their reconstruction will follow the restoration of the vault, planned for 2015. During this season, the restoration team managed to conserve the stairs in the western lateral room and fully reconstruct the stairs in the eastern. At the same time with the conservation process, excavations were carried in the central circular corridor, as well as the eastern radial corridor. The new results brought significant information for the construction of the theatre and its function during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, as well as new information for the period of the abandonment which happened at the end of the 4th century. After the theatre went out of use, the walls and the corridors were used in the newly erected Late Antique buildings which occupied the area. The construction of the theatre in Stobi started at the end of the 1st century AD, but it was fully finished during the first half of the 2nd century. The diameter of ca. 90 metres, the capacity of 7 600 spectators and the high level of preservation include the Stobi Theatre among the most important and most grandiose monuments of the Roman architecture in the province of Macedonia.

In 2015, the conservation activities at the theatre included work on the eastern and western wall of the central radial corridor (radial walls 13 and 14), the northern face of circular wall II, the southern face of circular wall III and the vault above the central circular corridor. The damaged parts of deteriorated bricks and crumbling mortar at the two radial walls is 1.20 metres high, while the damaged parts of deteriorated sandstone and mortar is around 3.5 metres high at the faces of the circular walls. Similar damages of cracked stones and falling off mortar are documented at the preserved segments of the vault above the central circular corridor. The preparation work included removal of the deteriorated material from the brick faces of the radial walls 13 and 14 and the sandstone faces of the circular walls. The walls were washed after the crumbled material was taken out. The solid stones from the removed masonry were collected for reuse and a selection of solid grey sandstone, found during the excavations at Stobi, was also done. The next step of the process involved restoring of the damaged parts with bricks at radial walls 13 and 14, and restoring of the circular walls. The restoration was done with the useage of lime based mortar, new bricks similar to the ancient and sandstone found during excavations. As final activity at the end of the process, the crumbling mortar between the stones at all positions was replaced. The conservation of the vault above the circular corridor started with construction of a supportive scaffold with a wooden semicircular top, placed directly under the vault. The damaged areas were cleaned and the crumbled sandstone and mortar were replaced with new. Restoration and reconstruction of the vault started from the preserved segment and extended 6 metres towards the eastern end. The restoration and reconstruction of the remaining part of the vault is planned for 2016.